I took as thorough a set of notes as I was able, given the mediocre quality of my pen and the fast pace of the conversation. So alas, a few names on lists of favorites and recommendations and whatnot may have been lost.

Question: What were your favorite/most influential novels/writers growing up?

JL: The incredibly prolific Tanith Lee.

CC: E. Nesbit, Enid Blyton, Lloyd Alexander, Susan Cooper.

JL: Explains the context of Blyton (widely read, but “horrible, racist” content) for those of us in the audience who aren’t familiar.
(Huge note from Becky — I originally misread my notes and applied this to the wrong writer. Enormous apologies for misquoting JL on something so important.)

HB: Madeleine L’Engle, Susan Cooper again, D’Aulaires Greek mythology.

CM: Tolkein, Lloyd Alexander again, Ursula K. LeGuin, Diana Wynn Jones.

Question: These formative books don’t seem similar to what the panelists actually write — why is their own writing so much more urban?

CC: The previous list was more things they read when they were younger than the YA crowd. Also read a lot of Anne Rice and BorderTown novels, which were eye opening.

HB: Harry Potter is an odd series because it starts off with an 11 year old and ends up with a 17 year old, so it winds from middle grade into YA. So what they really end up talking about is MG.

CM: Agreed, but even so HP really spurred the growth of YA.

JL: Also read a lot of retold fairy tales, particularly loved Jane Yolen‘s (who was in the audience).

(Everyone agrees that 1) retold fairy tales are great, and 2) Jane Yolen is also great.)

CM: Feels her writing is more “in conversation” with what she read as a kid. She loved classic fantasy, but realized that she was very much the Other when reading it, not the hero (due to her complicated ethnic/religious background), and wanted to write to put her own kids in the middle of the books instead of on the sidelines.

Question: HP hit near the beginning of the panelists’ careers — did it change the game for them?

CC: First book published was right before HP7 came out.

JL: Wasn’t published until 2005, but she beat Twilight!

HB: Read the first four HP books and felt they “pulled publishing towards a different age.” Pre-HP, the industry was more interested in picture books, but HP’s “gravitational pull” opened the door for more MG and YA.

CC: HP is the closest thing to a book everyone has read. It introduces a lot of people to fantasy and is where they learn what fantasy is and what the tropes are, the way Tolkien was for previous generations.

JL: Wrote YA before she knew that was really a thing, so it worked out well for her. Also, YA is a category and not a genre, because it contains all genres. “It’s a comfortable place if you love every genre and want to write all of them.”

CM: HP makes her up her game as a writer, and the financial success of the series lets publishers take risks on other books that probably wouldn’t get published otherwise.

CC: Its success also brought other classic YA books back into print.

JL: A lot of people who had negative reactions to HP originally felt that way because they already loved fantasy and were annoyed at being told it was the greatest, most original, etc. It isn’t the most original! That isn’t a flaw, though.

CM: Agreed. And people often get told their works resemble HP even if the came out first, like Garth Nix.

JL: “So about Garth… Well, all Australian writers know each other. (laugh)” Nix was already writing, like he was on a boat in the ocean of YA, and HP came along as a tidal wave that pulled him along with it and he found much wider success because of it.

CM: Also, kids go from reading HP to reading other fantasy if they like it.

(A pause to discuss the importance of LeGuin’s writing on her and in general.)

Question: So what books are you loving in YA now?

To save my aching wrists, instead of typing this up I will point you towards the response list already posted at Getting Past the Gatekeeper.

Audience Question: What makes a book YA?

HB: Publishers have different divisions for kids, so it depends on where you sell your book. Also, YA is most for teens and about teens, but not written from a place of nostalgia.

JL: It’s not YA if your narrator is looking back from adulthood (but like all rules, that one can be broken).

CM: It’s how you speak to people — she writes YA because she wants to reach people who are still trying to save the world.

Audience Question: Any good adult urban fantasy recs?
General answers: Charles DeLint, Emma Bull, Kushner, Gaiman, Scott Lynch.

(General discussion of Philip Pullman and people’s split opinions on him — CC loves his stuff, JL not so much. “Wheel people?!!”)

Audience Question: How have publisher and author expectations changed because of HP?

HB: Kids are big business now. Adult books have very different (smaller) sales expectations.

CM: Agree — there’s also more oversight and involvement from the publishing house.

Audience Question: How has Rowling affected the splintering of genres within YA?

HB: All of the genres had already existed, and YA actually just reinvented the wheel.

JL: Twilight had a bigger impact in creating paranormal romance, which has emerged as a huge splinter genre.

CC: Also, because of genre splintering, you can’t always count on your books being shelved together in YA if you write different genres.

That was all there was time for. All in all, a really interesting, really fun discussion.

Bruce Coville’s The Unicorn Chronicles, Book 3: Dark Whispers
Release Date: August 1
To be up front about it, Bruce is pretty much my favorite ever. This is the third book in what will probably be a four-book series (though originally it was only supposed to be a trilogy), and it has been a long time coming. I absolutely love the first two books in the series and am intensely excited for the next installment. If you have a fondness for unicorns and dragons or for portal fantasy stories, this is definitely something you should check out.

Justine Larbalestier’s How to Ditch Your Fairy
Release Date: September 16
Justine is also totally fantastic. Her blog is so much fun to read that I can’t wait to see her actually do humor, and so far she’s gotten nothing but positive reviews. I will be snatching this one off the shelf as soon as I can find it, and hoping she does a signing somewhere in the city so I can fangirl at her in person.

Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games
Release Date: October
Collins wrote the knock-out fantastic Underland Chronicles, which I think are probably the best books I’ve blogged about since AV has been around. And her upcoming trilogy is a dystopia with a teen girl protagonist… In other words, pretty much my very favorite things! All the reviews I’ve seen on this one have described it as intense, exciting, and gripping, and I’d expect nothing less after the Gregor books.

Movie: The City of Ember
Release: October
Speaking of dystopias where a (pre-)teen girl (and a boy) saves the world, The Books of Ember are great. The movie trailer and the stills all look fantastic, and I’m a Bill Murray fan and was excited he got involved in the project. I’m actually skeptical about how well this will do in the theaters, but I will definitely see it. (And, as a double bonus, there will be a fourth Book of Ember released sometime in the fall, according to the author’s website. Score!)

So that’s my list. What’s everyone else looking forward to?

We’ve also added Debbie Reese’s awesome blog, American Indians in Children’s Literature, to our blogroll. Remember, we’re always looking for other sci-fi/fantasy and/or children’s/YA-reviewing blogs, so if you’ve got one, let us know!

My stance with Twilight is that it depicts as its central point a relationship with abusive tendencies. You are free to disagree with me, but let’s talk about a hypothetical book that does depict an abusive relationship. Or, say, drug use or anorexia or racism or gang violence or what have you. Is it an author’s responsibility to make it clear that such behavior is bad? Or is the author’s only responsibility to tell a story as well as he or she is able?

(Just to clarify a point here: I’m not saying that the characters have to suddenly blink and go “Wow, the drug use/anorexia/racism/gang violence I’ve been engaging in is bad! I shall stop and devote my life to saving tiny helpless kittens!” Although that’s an option, what I’m really talking about is a metatextual way of showing that the behavior is unhealthy or destructive, like a reliable secondary character showing concern for the person engaing in the behavior.)

If we’re talking about fiction intended for adults, I have no problem saying that the author does not have to moralize to his or her readers. Grownups can handle themselves, and if they can’t, well, that’s not the author’s problem. You want to have a serial killer as the sympathetic hero of your adult novel? Fine, go for it. I have no problem with that.

But when you’re writing for kids or young adults…well, that’s when I get all muddled.

Look, kids are smart. Many people have said that in response to my Twilight review. I’ve said it myself. I think kids are great and I respect their intelligence. If someone walks up to them and says “Hey, smoking’s a really good idea!” or “You know what would be awesome? Committing crimes,” they’re not gonna go “Okay!”

But kids don’t read critically. They don’t go “Hey, I disagree with the central thesis of this text.” If it’s printed, it’s gospel. This isn’t their fault. When kids are taught to read, they’re taught to comprehend and absorb what they’re reading first. Analysis comes later. This isn’t a problem with the way reading is taught, it’s just how it is. You can’t grapple with the things you’re reading until you’re comfortable with the act of reading itself. So first you learn that “A” says “ah” or “ay,” then you learn to read a paragraph and tell someone else what it was about, and then you learn to talk about the piece beyond just saying what it was about and whether or not you liked it. That’s the whole point of literature classes and discussion questions.

So if a book tells you that certain behavior is normal or acceptable or cool or romantic – you believe it.

I am not exempt from this. When I was 12, I was obsessed with Piers Anthony (and yes, I know he doesn’t write for children specifically. Bear with me). I still own over 30 of his books. In one of them, he stated explicitly an idea that was implied in almost all of his books: that men have simple, black-and-white moral codes, while woman have more complicated, sneaky moralities in which the ends justify the means. And I believed this. I remember thinking “Man, Piers, you are so right” – never realizing that this utterly conflicted with the belief I held then and still hold today that gender essentialism is total bull and saying “men are this way and women are that way because they just are” is an utter crock. (Not to mention the fact that he had me, a feminist basically from birth, agreeing that women were morally inferior, even if I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing.)

Now, Piers wasn’t writing for kids or teens, so while I think the idea he was expressing is vile, I don’t have a problem with him expressing it. (Plus I don’t think he was aware that it was vile, which is a whole ‘nother ball of wax.)

But let’s say a writer is writing for kids or teens, knows that the idea he or she is putting forth is wrong (boys are better than girls, drugs are awesome, kicking puppies is aerobic and beneficial), and writes it anyway. Is that okay?

That’s the question I keep coming back to, and I have to say I don’t have an answer. What do you guys think?

I picked up two books in the store the other day and immediately put them back down because according to the back cover, they both revolved around three male characters. I will happily read and enjoy books with a male protagonist (the Gregor books were probably the best things I read all last year), but if there’s no female character important enough to be even mentioned on the back, I move on.

I also picked up – and put down – The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda. According to the blurb on the back, it’s about a boy who inherits a music box from an elderly relative, which is governed by strict rules, and his uncontrollable girl cousin, who breaks those rules and releases an evil sorceress that the children must then defeat. You know what? I am sick of the trope of boys respectfully following the rules of magic and girls breaking them willy nilly because apparently that’s just how girls are. I’ve been sick of it since Eve and Pandora were blamed for bringing evil into the world. (And of course the evil itself takes the form of a woman. Nice.)

It’s entirely possible that this book actually reclaims and reverse that trope. And it’s entirely possible that the other books are full of rich, nuanced female characters who didn’t make it into the blurb, or have no female characters to speak of but are really good books otherwise. But these are the things that made me go: “Hmm. I don’t think I want to read this,” when I looked at the books in the store. And since it does writers no good to have books that are awesome if people don’t want to buy and read them, I think these things are worth looking at.

What are the things that make you put down a book based on the description? I’m not talking about things like “Oh, this book appears to be about a dystopia and that’s not really my thing.” I mean pet peeves or narrative tropes that annoy you enough to keep the book in the store and your money in your wallet. Do you hate wiseass talking cats? Do girls in love with vampires leave you cold? Do you want to punch emo loner protagonists in the face? Share!

The Circle of Magic #1: Sandry’s Book (The Magic in the Weaving), #2: Tris’s Book (The Power of the Storm), and #3: Daja’s Book (The Fire in the Forging), by Tamora Pierce. Three cupcakes for Sandry’s Book, four cupcakes for the other two. (Genre: High Fantasy)

Secrets of Dripping Fang #1: The Onts, by Dan Greenburg. Three and a half cupcakes. (Genre: Contemporary/Urban Fantasy)

Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede. Four and a half cupcakes. (Genre: High Fantasy, Fairy Tale/Mythic)

Sorcery and Cecilia, or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. Four and a half cupcakes. (Genre: Historical Fantasy/Steampunk)

The Keys to the Kingdom #5: Lady Friday, by Garth Nix. Three cupcakes, although the series as a whole gets a tentative five (which may be reevaluated when the last two come out). (Genre: Portal Fantasy)

Not a review, but what’s with the torn edges on the pages of books lately?

The City of Ember and The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau. Five cupcakes, and a friggin’ cherry on top. (Genre: Apocalyptic/Dystopian Science Fiction)

Uglies, Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfeld. Four and a half cupcakes for Uglies, three and a half for the other two. (Genre: Apocalyptic/Dystopian Science Fiction)

Bruce Coville novels, including the My Teacher series, The A.I. Gang, The Dragonslayers, The Nina Tanleven Ghost Series, and The Magic Shop series. I’d say the average rating is about four cupcakes. (Genres: Aliens Among Us, Other, High Fantasy, Contemporary/Urban Fantasy, and Fairy Tale/Mythic)

Pendragon, books one and two, by D.J. MacHale. Two cupcakes. (Genre: Portal Fantasy.)

Meta talk about writing and books:

Fantasy Females (Of the Literary Variety), about the roles female characters play in fantasy.

Seriously, What is Wrong With Cinderella?, about Disney princesses, ideas about how to keep female characters dynamic, and a little bit of repeated review of Pendragon.